The ceremony was attended by Hyundai executives and government officials, including Vice Chairman Yung-Hsing Hsueh and Vice Chairman Hanyoung Choi from Hyundai Motor as well as Liu Qibao, Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee and Jiang Jufeng, Governor of Sichuan Province.

“Today is a meaningful day as Sichuan Hyundai officially enters the Chinese commercial vehicle market” said Hanyoung Choi, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor. “Hyundai’s advanced technologies and experience, combined with Nanjun Auto’s growth potential, will quickly drive Sichuan Hyundai to emerge as a competitive player in the market.”

“Sichuan Province is at the center of the nation’s program to develop China’s western regions, and the auto industry -- mainly driven by commercial vehicle makers -- is expected to grow dramatically in the region.” said Jiang Jufeng, Governor of Sichuan Province. “By building a new plant in the region, Sichuan Hyundai bypasses its competitors and quickly becomes a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in China.”

Sichuan Hyundai is a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and China’s Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Group Co. (Nanjun Auto), with an investment of around 3.6 billion Chinese yuan.

Hyundai conducted an extensive review of the surging Chinese commercial vehicle market. As a result, Hyundai concluded an agreement on a joint venture with Nanjun Auto in October 2010, and signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) to establish Sichuan Hyundai in April 2011.

While Sichuan Hyundai expects to enhance its brand awareness quickly by utilizing Nanjun Auto’s existing commercial vehicle models and production facilities, it will introduce new models from its new plant to reinforce its product competitiveness, as well.

In order to efficiently take on the market, Sichuan Hyundai will execute a strategy of operating two differentiated brands: It will improve Nanjun Auto’s existing models to cater to value-for-money consumers, while nurturing new Hyundai models as a high-end brand.

The new plant is scheduled to be completed by the first half of 2014 with an annual capacity of 150,000 units. Equipped with advanced full-cycle production facilities of press, welding, painting, assembly as well as an engine plant, the plant will produce China-exclusive truck models. The plant is designed to flexibly expand its capacity up to 300,000 units according to market demands.

Sichuan Hyundai plans to produce buses initially at Nanjun Auto’s existing production plant after adding and improving production facilities, and aims to increase bus sales with new models in the future.

By 2014, Sichuan Hyundai will roll out a total of 160,000 units (150,000 trucks, 10,000 buses) to become a major commercial vehicle automaker in China.

China is the world’s biggest commercial vehicle market, with 4.03 million units (3.54 million trucks, 490,000 buses) sold in 2011, a figure that is expected to grow to 4.71 million units by 2017.

With the establishment of Sichuan Hyundai to operate the entire process from production to sales, Hyundai will continue to strengthen its efforts to become a leader in the promising market. Through establishing a full commercial vehicle lineup, expanding facility investment and introducing new models, Hyundai plans to sell 170,000 units to raise its market share to 3.6% by 2017.